Artificial clouds or smoke-screens are forms of camouflage that serve to disrupt the line of sight between a sensor and a target for military purposes. A smoke screen can be an effective shield against ultraviolet, visible and infrared sensors.
The use of aircraft to create a smoke screen has heretofore been employed by dropping multiple smoke producing bombs slowed in descent by parachutes. This use has been limited because it requires air and ground coordination. Such deployment around ground combat troops was limited because it suffers from the vagaries involving air-space management and timely availability.
On the other hand, one of the most important concepts in the technology of warfare is close air ground support, whereby various types of aircraft gun ships can visually see the enemy on the ground and target them with massive firepower to pulverize them. The effectiveness of close air ground support was clearly demonstrated after the 9-11 attack on America when the US military sent about 100 Special Forces soldiers into Afghanistan. The Taliban had a battle-hardened array of about 40,000 soldiers. These 100 Special Forces operators were able to defeat a 40,000 man army because they had the technology of close air ground support.
Drones, like the PREDATORS and GLOBAL HAWKS, are two of the many types of unmanned aircraft that have been used by the U.S. military in Afghanistan and elsewhere. There is no onboard pilot or crew, but they are usually piloted by extremely skilled ground-based aviators. Ground-based aviators are possible thanks to a combination of technological advances. Pilots no longer need to be physically sitting in the airplane. However, that does not make the ground-based pilots any less skilled than traditional in-the-cockpit pilots. Now, fully automated drones can carry out pre-programmed tasks and a ground pilot can take action if determined to be necessary.
The technology for producing a smoke screen includes the use of smoke pots that are typically ground based and pre-deployed on the anticipated battlefield by trucks. Smoke pots are containers of smoke-producing chemicals that, once in place, can be remotely activated, as needed.